Arts & Entertainment Dichotomy from page 31 From cha cha and samba to rumba and paso doble, Soviet emigre (by way of Australia) Sasha Farber heats up the floor. Suzanne Chessler Special to the Jewish News F ans of the Australian version of Dancing With the Stars recognize Sasha Farber as the pro who choreographed, partnered with and later dated pop star Nikki Webster. That was in 2005, when Farber was on break in the middle of a near-decade of touring in Burn the Floor, the ballroom dance spectacular that has moved across stages in more than 30 countries. Farber, 27, who has appeared with the fast-stepping production on Broadway and along London's West End, will be among the troupe scheduled Feb. 22-March 6 at the Fisher Theatre. "I like the diversity of the dances in Burn the Floor all the different styles I get to do and learn:' says Farber, now dat- ing Sharna Burgess, who danced in the production until very recently, when she decided to move in new directions. "I pretty much perform in all the Latin American dances — the cha cha, samba, rumba and paso doble. I'm known for my quick feet, which also gets me into the jive. "There are a few numbers in which I'm trying to get the girls. There's one where I dance with four or five girls. It's a story of my going out on the town, where I bump into all of them, and we dance to the song `Fishiest " — Sasha Farber in Burn the Floor Farber, whose family moved to Australia from Russia when he was 7, decided to become a professional dancer while attending a cousin's wedding, where he watched a couple performing different ballroom styles. "Leading up to my bar mitzvah, I start- ed taking ballroom dance classes:' recalls Farber, who attended Moriah College, an independent Modern Orthodox co- educational Jewish day school in Queens Park, Australia, a suburb of Sydney. "I started competing and won the Australian Youth Latin Championships twice and represented Australia at the World Latin Championships. I was fea- tured in the closing ceremony at the 2000 Sydney Olympics." Farber is among 20 championship dancers in Burn the Floor, which also features So You Think You Can Dance alums Anya Garnis, Pasha Kovalev, Robbie Kmetoni, Janette Manrara and Karen Hauer. Vonzell Solomon, one of two vocalists, was the second runner-up in the fourth season of American Idol. There also are two onstage percussionists. The idea for Burn the Floor was con- ceived in 1997 at Elton John's 50th birth- day party. After seeing a group of dancers in a 10-minute program, producer Harley Medcalf decided to build the show. "This is a high-adrenalin production with a lot of energy, control and tech- nique throughout two hours, and it's always evolving;' says Farber, who finds it hard to unwind once he's off the stage. "With eight performances a week, the routine can be hard on the body, but that lets me eat just about everything. I look for foods that are healthy, fresh and won't make me feel sick the next day. "When we were in Cincinnati, I took the cast to a Jewish deli. We all had mat- zah ball soup, and it was a great time." I I Burn the Floor runs Feb. 22-March 6 at the Fisher Theatre in Detroit. Performances are 8 p.m. Tuesdays- Saturdays, 2 p.m. Saturdays- Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Sundays. $29-$69. (313) 872-1000; www.BroadwaylnDetroit.com . "I think that we'll see a trend that lies in discovering the greater context in which Jewish culture flourished and developed from many centuries in the Islamic lands." , :43 -04•Jruo wai . 4 • .1/..v •tew EJ , fu r rut" -n rj u WO Mt. (.714 s Whir ••-,/ /47. • +11 •.a.) ranAv iffir.,146 men Irr wia.1 p46.4 vala 0...4.2» .12 .1.7)k 1 1 a . , ,,p• i vian • 'spilt rtofir, .40 rAls R00.5 Cour tesy of t he L ibrary of the Jewis h Theolog ica l Sem inary Gotta Dance! Above: Jami's Yusuf and Zulaykha in Judeo-Persian, 1853 Left: Hebrew Poetic Hymns to Accompany Festival Prayers, Kurdistan, 1810 "Jews, Judaism and the Arts: Past and Present" runs 2-5 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The only charge is the admis- sion fee for the museum: $8 adults, $6 seniors, $4 youths 6-17, free for members and children 5 and young- er. For reservations, call (248) 258- 0055 or e-mail beroth@jtsa.edu . 4,ews Nate Bloom Special to the Jewish News The Oscars, Part I The Academy Awards will be pre- sented in a ceremony airing 8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27, on ABC. There are an especially large num- ber of Jewish nominees this year. Meet some of them here, and come back next week for more Oscar coverage. Karen Goodman, 60, and her husband, Kirk Simon, also 60, are nominated for best documentary short subject for Strangers No More. The film is about a school in Tel Aviv that has students from 48 countries; many of them are refugees from war. Randy Newman, 67, has been nominated 20 times for best song 32 February 17 a 2011 or best score, winning once. This year he is up for best song for We Belong Together," from Toy Story 3. He competes with Alan Menken, 61, nominated 19 times for an Oscar and winning six times. This year, Menken is nominated for "If I See the Light," from Tangled. Nominated for best adapted screen- play are Aaron Sorkin, 49, for The Social Network; Lee Unkrich, 43, co- writer for Toy Story 3; Joel Coen, 56, and Ethan Coen, 53, for True Grit; and Debra Granik, 48, co-writer for Winter's Bone. Unkrich, the Coen brothers and Granik Lee Unkrich also directed their respective films. Up for best origi- nal screenplay hon- ors are Mike Leigh, 67, for Another Year; Stuart Blumberg, 41, and Lisa Cholodenko, 46, for Debra Granik The Kids are Alright; David Seidler, 73, for The King's Speech; and Scott Silver, 46, co-writer for The Fighter and a Boston-area native who began his film career making a documentary that included street hustlers. Leigh and Cholodenko also directed their respective films. The best picture Oscar goes to the film's principal producers. Ten films are nominated for best picture. Here are the producers I've been able to confirm as Jewish: Mike Medavoy, 70, for Black Swan; Todd Lieberman, 38, for The Fighter; Jeffrey Hinte-Levy, 43, for The Kids are Alright; and Emile Sherman, Emile 38, for The King's Sherman Speech. Sherman is an Australian Jew. Also nominated are Scott Rudin, 52, and Joel and Ethan Coen, for True Grit; and Scott Rudin, once again, for The Scott Rudin Social Network.